Los Gatos Weekly-Times

Main Street

Mary Ann Cook

ARIS fundraiser lives up to its 'high hopes'

SILENT AUCTION SPEAKS: The ARIS fundraiser "High Hopes" dinner dance and silent auction May 29 at the San Jose Athletic Club exceeded all expectations. Organizers and staff were thrilled at the response--a sellout and smashing success. "This definitely puts us at a different [fundraising] level," said Norm Robinson, executive director of ARIS (AIDS Resources, Information and Services).

More than $20,000 was raised through the silent auction alone, said spokesman Tom Myers. And another $10,000-$15,000 is expected from the evening's other events. This is the first time a sit-down dinner had been combined with the auction.

Chairman of the whole shebang was Los Gatan Deborah Rubnitz, who gave birth to a son in February, but didn't let that elemental fact slow down her enthusiasm for the fundraiser. "She's a dynamo," said Myers, "and her commitment during the past six months was admirable." And she was far from the only Los Gatan involved. The dinner committee reads like a veritable LG phone book: Barbara and Mark Beck, Berni and Randy Cowherd, Anita and Kevan Del Grande, Jennifer and Phil DiNapoli, Sandra and Ray Farris, Laura and E.J. Tim Harris, Valerie and John Hopkins, Ron Martino and Ryan Fisher, Sandra and Armon Mills, Sandra Moll and Rick Holden, David Stonesifer and Larry Arzie and Geri and Leigh Weimers. That's a full 75 percent of the committee.

Besides being on the dinner committee, Valerie Hopkins served in a professional capacity as event consultant. She helps other organizations such as the San Jose Symphony raise money, and we know of that group's campaign successes. Her hand was evident in High Hopes as well.

TOP TEACHER-IN-TRAINING: Tracy Langley of Los Gatos was named Student Teacher of the Year in Santa Clara County. Langley is one of those strongly motivated souls who go back to school after motherhood and divorce, and she's finishing up her master's in education at Santa Clara University.

She has two supportive sons--Chace, 15, a freshman at Los Gatos High School, and Christopher, 13, a seventh-grader at Fisher. They encouraged her to spread the news of her award, which is sponsored by the Santa Clara County Office of Education. Langley did her student teaching at Mt. Pleasant High School in San Jose, and she'll be teaching world history and U.S. history to sophomores at Independence High School come fall.

"Tracy makes content and curriculum meaningful and relevant to young adults. She really cares about their world," says Marilyn Messina, her supervisor at SCU, who nominated her for the award.

Her students at Mt. Pleasant have taught her much more than she's taught them, Langley says. "I feel that the kids on the East Side really need me. The diversity there is incredible." One of the classes she'll be teaching next fall is made up of limited-English speakers. "That'll be a challenge," she says with zest.

During her advanced schooling the past five years, she's worked part time at Redwood Middle School in Saratoga as an instructional aide. "I always wanted to be a teacher--all my life." Now she's a bona fide one, to say nothing of an award-winning one.

SKATING SCULPTURE: A relief sculpture of Peggy Fleming was unveiled at a presentation at Chabot Galleries in the Pruneyard last weekend, and both star and sculptor Bill Mack were there. The piece was commissioned by the World Figure Skating Championship organizers.

After its stay at Chabot, the relief will be installed in the permanent collection of the U.S. Figure Skating Hall of Fame in Colorado. Peggy Fleming was chosen as this year's honoree because this is the 30th anniversary of her Olympic gold medal and World Figure Skating championship.

The sculpture is nearly 4 feet tall and combines a large portrait with a smaller, full-figure representation of her in classic skating pose. Mack is one of the leading relief sculptors in this country, and this exhibition of his work will be on display through June 15. Maggie Bonnett is gallery director.

VILLAGE MOVE: If you're having trouble finding Ten Thousand Villages, it's because it's moved. Now the gift store that features crafts from Third World artisans is near the Good Earth at 214 N. Santa Cruz Ave. Closed Mondays, it's open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. every other day but Thursday, when it's open till 7. Sunday hours are 11 a.m.-5 p.m.

HOUSE CALLS: You may have thought house calls went the way of full-service gas stations and the dodo bird. But here's one: The Los Gatos Dog and Cat Hospital has a vet van. Prices slightly higher, but what a solution for pet owners who are housebound or those who have numerous pets.

TEMPERATURE: Speaking of pets reminds me of the temperature reading that's posted outside the Johnson Pet Hospital on Santa Cruz Avenue. With so many of us complaining about the weather, that temperature reading is encouraging, though totally false. Seems to be about 10 degrees higher than real life. Is this what virtual reality means?

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